More than 300 tornadoes had been reported by the end of April. The twisters caused hundreds of fatalities and inflicted catastrophic damage in many neighborhoods.

And while those mounting numbers could go down as the highest on record, climatologists caution that drawing conclusions as to a cause is difficult because of unreliable statistics.

The number of reported April tornadoes has more than doubled since the 1950s, but most of that increase was in the number of small twisters that could have gone unnoticed and unreported when the nation was far less populated.

“We have eyes everywhere, and we have radar and satellite. It would be very difficult for a tornado to sneak through unnoticed,” National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Carbin told The New York Times.

Photo: WBRC Television